"No!" she said, and I stood there in worse confusion than ever.
Yet there was something vaguely familiar in her tone.
"I beg your pardon," I said, "I thought Dr. Eccleston still lived here."
"He does!" she replied. "Please come in!"
We stepped into the hallway. I looked around, taking in each familiar object.
"I am David Forsyth," I said, "perhaps you have heard the rector speak of his boy who went to sea."
"I recognized you at first, David," she said, her face still in the shadows. "What a grand surprise for the rector!"
I walked towards the library, but the rector had heard our voices. He came out, spectacles in one hand, a book in the other. He stared at me as if he could scarcely credit his own sight.
I was in his arms the next moment.
"David," he shouted. "I had almost given you up for lost! No letters! And all the time I've been waiting to thank you for sending me my precious jewel!"